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If Joseph Says So, It is So!

In September 1831, Joseph and Emma Smith at the invitation of John and Elsa Johnson moved into their home in Hiram, Ohio to have a place to work on the translation of the Bible. Sidney Rigdon was left in Kirtland to preside. According to Philo Dibble who lived in Kirtland at the time:

“Upon one occasion he [Sidney] said the keys of the kingdom were taken from us. On hearing this, many of his hearers wept, and when someone undertook to dismiss the meeting by prayer, he said praying would do them no good, and the meeting broke up in confusion.

“Brother Hyrum came to my house the next morning and told me all about it, and said it was false, and that the keys of the kingdom were still with us. He wanted my carriage and horses to go to the town of Hiram and bring Joseph. The word went abroad among the people immediately that Sidney was going to expose “Mormonism.” Joseph came up to Kirtland a few days afterwards and held a meeting in a large barn. Nearly all the inhabitants of Kirtland turned out to hear him.

“The barn was filled with people, and others, unable to get inside, stood around the door as far as they could hear. Joseph arose in our midst and spoke in mighty power, saying: ‘I can contend with wicked men and devils—yes, with angels. No power can pluck those keys from me, except the power that gave them to me; that was Peter, James and John. But for what Sidney has done, the devil shall handle him as one man handles another.’

“Thomas B. Marsh’s wife went from the meeting and told Sidney what Joseph had said, and he replied: ‘Is it possible that I have been so deceived? But if Joseph says so, it is so.’”

About three weeks later Sidney was on his bed when suddenly, an unseen power lifted him off the bed and threw him across the room. It then seized upon him and threw all over the room. The family heard the commotion and ran in to see Sidney being thrown about the room. Philo said:

“From the effects of which Sidney was laid up for five or six weeks. Thus was Joseph’s prediction in regard to him verified.”

Source:

Philo Dibble, The Juvenile Instructor, XXVII, (January 1, 1892), pp. 22-23; (May 15, 1892), pp. 303-304; (June 1, 1892), p. 345

Early Scenes in Church History (Faith Promoting Series, volume 8) (Salt Lake City, 1882), pp. 79-96

Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 67.

http://www.josephsmithfoundation.org/wiki/joseph-smith-prophecy/#return-note-453-6

Copyright Glenn Rawson 2021